Page 13 of Enticing Her Love

“One way to do it is to use your shirt to soak it up, then drain it into the canteen.”

“Will that work when there’s so little water?”

“There’s only one way to find out.”

“Okay, let’s try it.” She used the hem of her shirt to soak it up and was able to only wring out a few drops, but the light in her eyes told him she was glad she’d done it. “Look at that. It worked. What else you got, Braden?”

And you can’t understand why I push you.

Chapter Six

“STUPID TENT. I swear they make these things as difficult as possible to put together,” Sutton grumbled to herself, wresting with the freaking tent poles while Flynn went to find a log he could split to see if the inside was dry enough to burn. They were supposed to have two tents. But there was only one in the gear bag, which she was going to give Karen hell for when they got back. If that wasn’t bad enough, they’d sent the hardest tent in the world to put together. Every time she got the plastic tubes together, they popped out and the tent smacked her in the face. When it flew up for the fourth time, she threw it on the ground and heard a chuckle. She spun around, shooting a death stare at Flynn as he videoed her. “Are you freaking kidding me? I thought you were out getting wood.”

“This was too good to miss.” He laughed and continued videoing.

“Would you put that thing down and help me?”

“But this is so much more fun.”

She stalked over to him, glowering. “Know what’s not fun? Being hungry, thirsty, and wet and thinking you’re going to get wood so we can get more comfortable. But I’m still wet, and you have no wood.”

Laughter burst from his lips, deep and throaty, his beaming smile lighting up his entire face, making him look even hotter, which pissed her off.

“Why is that funny?”

“Do you really need me to explain?”

She realized her mistake and tried to scowl, but she couldn’t keep a straight face. “Shut up. You know what I meant, and stop filming!” She yanked the camera from him, but the strap was still around his neck and he flew forward, their bodies crashing together, which made him laugh harder and annoyed her even more as she lost her balance, her arms flailing. He swung the camera on its strap over his shoulder with one hand, catching her with his other around her waist, and crushing her to him. Laughter broke through her frustration, and she buried her face in his shirt.

Even hot and sweaty the man smelled good. The kind of good that took her mind to darker places. She imagined his naked, glistening body pressing down on hers—

“If you wanted to be close to me, all you had to do was ask.” His voice was teasing and gruff at once.

Cheeks burning, she kept her face hidden against his chest. “I hate you right now.”

“Well, that’s a damn shame, isn’t it?” His hand flattened against her back, and his tone softened. “You know, it’s okay not to hate me, Steele.”

The way he said it, she wasn’t sure if he meant he was a good guy and to cut him a break, or something deeper. She looked up at him to try to figure it out, and their eyes connected with that sizzling heat that fractured her thoughts and had her fingers curling tighter into his shirt. Their laughter silenced, his smile smoldering. His lips were right there. Had they always been so perfectly bowed and tempting? For the second time today, she was all too aware of how good he felt, and that startled her out of her reverie.

What the heck was wrong with her? She needed to get her head on straight. The rainforest must be making her delirious. That was the only logical explanation for the desire pooling inside her. Forcing herself to step out of his arms took more effort than it should, as if the forest itself was winding around them, drawing them together. “I think I’ll stick to disliking you, at least until you give me a dry place to sleep.”

“Now, there’s some motivation.” He cocked a grin and headed for the tent. “These things can be pesky.”

“More like impossible.” She watched him expertly set up the tent in a matter of minutes.

“Let’s make sure there are no tears or creepy-crawlies before we put our gear in it.” He crawled inside the diminutive tent, inspecting the seams and sides.

“How are we both supposed to fit in that thing with all of our stuff?”

“There’s plenty of room.”

Maybe if we were conjoined twins.

He climbed out of the tent, and as he zipped it closed, she said, “Don’t zip it. We need to put our stuff inside.”

“We need to make sure our gear has no critters on it before putting it in the tent, and I don’t want any unwanted visitors getting in while we do that.”

“Good thinking.”